1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrial connector, and particularly to a power connector assembly for connecting an electrical device to a printed circuit board.
2. Description of Prior Art
Power connector assemblies used in a system are employed not only for interconnecting power circuits and/or data communication cables but also for detecting the system status, e.g. whether the system is using outside power supply, whether the system is under charging or whether the system is using battery pack. A currently used power connector assembly 7 for a notebook, as shown in FIG. 7, has six pins 70 of equal size and aligned in a row, which has a large dimension in a longitudinal direction. Two of the six pins 70 are used as power pins and the others are used as signal pins. However, in recent years, along with an increasing demand for miniaturization in electronic devices, there is also a demand in power connectors for reduced size to minimize occupied space in notebooks and/or on a printed circuit board.
Hence, a power connector assembly with a reduced size is required to overcome the disadvantages of the currently used power connector assembly.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a power connector assembly having an improved pin arrangement thereby economizing the occupied space.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a power connector assembly having an improved pin arrangement thereby reducing the production cost.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, a power connector assembly of the present invention includes a plug having a plug housing receiving a plurality of pins therein including power pins for transmitting power and signal pins for transmitting data, and a socket having a socket housing receiving a plurality of contacts in a plurality of passageways hereof for engaging with corresponding power pins and signal pins of the plug. The signal pins are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows, each signal pin being staggered with other signal pins in a different row. The power pins are arranged at oppositesides of the signal pins and larger than the signal pins. The arrangement of the passageways of the socket are defined corresponding to the pins in the plug. The passageways include outmost passageways and middle passageways. The outmost passageways are designed to receive the power pins and the middle passageways are designed to receive the signal pins. The outmost passageways are larger in dimension than the middle passageways. A printed circuit board defining a plurality of holes therein is provided for engaging with the pins of the plug. The holes are arranged in a plurality of rows and the holes at outmost sides are larger than others for receiving corresponding power pins.